Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Hydrangea paniculata cultivar Little Lamb.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant, botanically known as Hydrangea paniculata, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Little Lamb.
The new Hydrangea originated from a cross-pollination during the summer of 1989 of a proprietary selection of Hydrangea paniculata identified as code number 16, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Hydrangea paniculata, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Little Lamb was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Essen, Belgium.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by softwood cuttings taken in Essen, Belgium since 1995, has shown that the unique features of this new Hydrangea are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Little Lamb have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Little Lambxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Little Lambxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and outwardly arching plant habit.
2. Inflorescences held upright and outward on strong stems.
3. Compact, dense and conical-shaped inflorescences.
4. Numerous flowers per inflorescence.
Plants of the new Hydrangea differ from plants of female parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Inflorescences of plants of the new Hydrangea are smaller and more dense than inflorescences of plants of the female parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Hydrangea have smaller flowers than plants of the female parent selection.
Plants of the new Hydrangea can be compared to plants of the Hydrangea paniculata cultivar P.G., not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Grand Haven, Mich., plants of the new Hydrangea differed from plants of the cultivar P.G. in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hydrangea were smaller than plants of the cultivar P.G..
2. Plants of the new Hydrangea had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar P.G..
3. Plants of the new Hydrangea had smaller flowers than plants of the cultivar P.G..
Plants of the new Hydrangea can also be compared to plants of the Hydrangea paniculata cultivar Tardiva, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Grand Haven, Mich., plants of the new Hydrangea differed from plants of the cultivar Tardiva in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hydrangea were smaller than plants of the cultivar Tardiva.
2. Plants of the new Hydrangea had larger and more dense inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Tardiva.
3. Plants of the new Hydrangea had smaller flowers than plants of the cultivar Tardiva.
4. Plants of the new Hydrangea flowered earlier than plants of the cultivar Tardiva.